ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday rejected a highly critical US report of its efforts to defeat Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, saying it would not be held accountable for US-led failures in Afghanistan.
“I would like to categorically state that we do not share the assessment of the US,” Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told reporters at a weekly briefing in response to a question on the White House document. “The references to Pakistan are unwarranted,” she said. “Pakistan should not be held accountable for the failings of coalition strategy in Afghanistan. Pakistan has a clear strategy in dealing with this and other issues and solely be guided by its own national interest,” added the spokesperson.
Tuesday’s White House report noted a deterioration of the situation in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt along the Afghan border between January and March this year, and said Pakistan still had no clear path to triumph over insurgents.
Janjua pointed out that Pakistan had rendered more sacrifices as compared to any other country of the world. She emphasised the need for engagement between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States to address the common challenges.
When asked about the current status of Pak-US bilateral relations, the spokeswoman said that both the countries had been trying to build a relationship based on mutual respect and interest. In reply to another media query about Pakistan-India engagement, she said that the process between the two countries was moving ahead. She said that commerce secretaries of both the countries would meet in Islamabad on April 27-28. She expressed the confidence that “these talks will be imbued by a spirit of enlightened national interests on both sides”.
Janjua said that Pakistan attached considerable importance to the dialogue process and dates for the meeting on Sir Creek were expected to be finalised soon.
Responding to a question about the situation in Libya and Bahrain, the spokesperson said that Pakistani mission in Bahrain was in constant touch with the Pakistanis to facilitate the community in every possible manner.
Similarly, she said that Pakistani missions in Cairo and Tunisia had been instructed to extend every possible facility to Pakistani nationals fleeing Libya. agencies
